Positive habits often create momentum and flow into more positive habits. In the same way negative habits often lead into more negative habits.
It kind of works like an upwards or downwards spiral.
Let’s take the example of wanting to create a new routine of exercising first thing in the morning:
- The night before you take 5 minutes to get organised. You set out your exercise clothes and set your alarm.
- You work out what time you need to go to bed and start getting ready for bed 15 minutes beforehand.
- The next morning you’ve got everything ready to go and it’s easy to get dressed and get started with exercising.
- The rest of that day you’re feeling pretty good about yourself and that momentum leads into more action that day.
- After the early morning and activity you find it easier to get to bed earlier that night to repeat it all again the next day.
This is an upwards spiral. The positive actions lead into more positive actions and make it easier and easier to keep your new routine going.
A downwards spiral might look like this:
- You want to start a new exercise habit but this time you get sucked into watching just one more episode of the show you’re into.
- And then just one more.
- And then just one more. Finally you drag yourself away and head to bed a couple hours later than you intended.
- The next morning your alarm goes off. You hit snooze a few times before finally getting up.
- Now you’re late and you can’t find your exercise clothes.
- When you finally find them it’s too late so you skip exercising today.
- You feel tired though from the alarm and all of that snoozing so you have more coffee that day.
- That night you decide to try again and to go to bed earlier. But wired from your coffee you stay up and watch just one more episode.
- And then one more…
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